AC-DC converters are useful for a variety of applications. These applications include providing power to telecommunications systems, office and industrial equipment, military systems, and consumer electronics. Consumer electronics devices that use AC-DC converters include laptop computers, desktop computers, monitors, routers, blue-ray players, printers, televisions, etc.
A variety of configurations may be used in AC-DC converter systems, including a configuration that includes a rectifier, a Power Factor Correction (PFC) stage, and a DC-DC converter stage. One type of DC-DC converter stage that may be used is a Switched Mode Power Supply (SMPS) DC-DC converter that includes energy storage elements and switching elements to switch energy to the converter output from these storage elements. The storage elements may include, for example, inductors and capacitors. The switching elements may include, for example, Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs). Some SMPS converters also provide galvanic isolation between their input and output using a transformer, and may have their switching elements located on the primary side of this transformer. Such SMPS converters may be capable of providing line regulation and load regulation of the converter output voltage.